Global Wrestling Association
Global Wrestling Association (GWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2012 by Italian-American entrepreneur and film director Tony Gioletti. After the death of Gioletti just months after the opening of the company's operations, the responsibilities of the promotion were bestowed upon his three children with his eldest daughter Catherine Gioletti resuming position as the organization's owner, his only son Anthony Gioletti, Jr. becoming Executive Vice President of the company's broadcast production, and his youngest child Christine Gioletti undertaking duties as being the Executive Vice President of Media and Public Relations. The company produces a two-long show every week called Shockwave, which features a wide array of contracted wrestlers competing in matches and participating in interviews. Every episode is aired live across the country on Sunday nights and aired on tape delay internationally but with the exception of pay-per-views, in which they are broadcasted live. History Businessman and film executive Tony Gioletti decided to expand his ventures within the entertainment industry by choosing to become a wrestling promoter. Failing to find an organization suiting his needs including an ideal location, proper infrastructure, and a resources to become a successful owner of a wrestling promotion, Gioletti chose to create his own company starting with purchasing property in Los Angeles, California to build an appropriate area for the company's headquarters. Gioletti then brought former employees from various wrestling promotions including the likes of Frank Richards, who is known for his vast amount of connections within the wrestling business along with insurmountable income to help establish a company within professional wrestling. After creating his own production team of writers and cameramen while hiring a bevy of backstage and on-screen employees, Gioletti finally built his roster after consulting with Richards, who was also a trainer operating his own developmental school, and Benjamin Jameson, a trainer who had began his career after having been taught under the tutelage of Richards. Initially, the working title of the company's name was going to be Gioletti Wrestling Association as neither Tony Gioletti nor his employees had thought of creating the promotion's epithet. Since Gioletti was intent on keeping the GWA initials, he chose to brand his newly operated wrestling company as Global Wrestling Association. Today the company's art logo depicts the letter "G" and the word "Global" in red as that was Gioletti's favorite color. On September 23, 2012 GWA hosted its first pay-per-view event properly named Genesis, which the show included the crowning of the inaugural titleholder for the company's top championship belt, the GWA Championship. A month later, the promotion then determined the first pair within the company's tag team division to win the GWA Tag Team Championship at Full Throttle. Then in January 2013 at Inception, GWA crowned the first winner of the GWA Starlets Championship for its female division. Since then, all three championships have been defended outside of the United States such as Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico but only the GWA Championship has since been officially rebranded as the GWA World Championship. Programming Weekly GWA began airing Shockwave (officially typeset as SHOCKWAVE) on August 5, 2012 through AXS TV. The promotion broadcasts each two-hour show every Sunday evening at 7pm ET/ 6pm CT with the exception of dates sharing a pay-per-view event in which case Shockwave acts as a pre-game show highlighting feuds and previous matches leading up to the show. The broadcast team of Shockwave includes Harold Epstein and Philip Malone as the show's commentating duo, Lori Sanders and Samuel Root as the interviewers, and Jerry Olsen as the ring announcer. Monthly events Championships and accomplishments Current champions Other accomplishments The following accomplishments in GWA allows for the winner of a featured competition (e.g. tournament, battle royal, etc.) to be awarded a championship match in the main event at the following pay-per-view. The March Madness Tournament is a sixteen-man single-elimination tournament where the final match takes place at the March Madness pay-per-view to determine the number one contender for the GWA World Championship. The Independence Battle Royal is a twenty-man over-the-top battle royal at Independence to determine who will face the GWA World Champion at the following pay-per-view in the promotion's marquee event Supremacy. The Road to Glory Contract is a ladder match where eight competitors vie for a contract that guarantees a shot to face the GWA World Champion in the main event of the company's final pay-per-view show of the year, Final Destination. External links Category:Federations Category:Federations based in California Category:Federations formed in 2012